morning lullabies
by winninghearts
Summary: Even as her best friend, Sokka wasn't so used to seeing Toph in such tender moments. Tokka, with little Lin.


Sokka felt a sharp elbow in his side, pulling him out of his sleep. Lazily, he curled more into himself and waved an arm at whatever had just poked him. "Goway, lemmsleep," he mumbled, more to himself than to anyone else. He could now feel sunlight boring its way through his lids and he squeezed his eyes shut tight and rolled his body over to face the other direction.

"Sorry, Snoozles. You need to wake up."

At the sound of that voice, Sokka's eyes flew open and he remembered exactly where he was. Toph was sitting up on the other side of the bed, smirking down at him, and suddenly he was wide awake. He felt a smile to match hers spread over his face. Without another thought he reached over to grab the front of her pale green nightgown, pulling her down on top of him for a kiss as she slid her arms around his neck gladly. A small moan rose up from her as he moved his lips over hers, but it quickly turned into a laugh as she forced herself to break the kiss.

"As much I would like to take that further," Toph said, her voice low and sincere. She detangled herself from his arms and slid over to the edge of the bed. "That's not what I woke you up for." She reached over to the bedside table where Sokka's pants had landed after being kicked off the night before. She threw them back to him. "You need to put those on, because I'm expecting we will be getting a visitor any second now. Anytime after the sun rises is fair game."

Getting what she was implying and realizing that he _was_ completely naked from the waist down, Sokka jumped up to pull on his pants. It turned out not to be a moment too soon, because just as he finished tying them, he heard the sound of little feet running down the hall, followed by a hand jiggling the doorknob.

"_Mom! _Mom, your door is locked! _Mom!_"

With the slight movement of Toph's hand, the metal lock slid back and four year-old Lin came barreling into the room, throwing herself onto the bed. Her body bounced for a moment, then she wrapped herself in the sheets and crawled up to her mother's arms. It took a moment before she noticed anyone else in the room, but when she did, a silly smile rose to her face.

"Uncle Sokka!"

She stood up, still cloaked in the bedsheets, and walked across the mattress to face him. Lin held out her arms and Sokka picked her up easily, tiny body fitting to his side and legs dangling down in the air.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. She slung her little arms over his shoulders, completely comfortable, and Sokka felt himself turn a little red. Lin was completely oblivious to what his half-clothed presence in her mother's bedroom at five-thirty in the morning would imply, but he still didn't know how to answer without getting slightly embarrassed.

"Um, well, I, um-"

"Uncle Sokka's come to visit. He's going to be staying with us for a while."

Lin made a happy noise as she wiggled down from his arms and climbed back into the bed She instantly worked her way into Toph's arms and settled there as her mother pulled the covers back up over them. "Are you going back to sleep, little bit?" Toph asked, ruffling her daughter's dark hair. Sokka began a search for his shirt, trying not to stare at the mother and daughter cuddling in bed. Even as her best friend, Sokka wasn't so used to seeing Toph in such tender moments. She didn't seem embarrassed, though. On the contrary, he noticed as he stared out of the side of his eye, unable to help it, Toph looked maybe the happiest he could remember seeing her. Worry-free and smiling, hopeless bedhead, tickling Lin, who was tucked into the crook of her arm. It was without a doubt the most beautiful he had ever seen her.

"And where do you think you're going?" Toph's voice suddenly asked as Sokka pulled on his shirt and started a quiet walk to the door.

"I thought- I mean, I was just going to-"

"Come _here_," Toph said, pulling the covers back again. "You're decent now. Might as well get a few more hours of sleep. You're a real buzzkill when you don't get enough rest, you know."

"Oh, you're one to talk," Sokka said, but he was smiling now, climbing back into the bed and swinging an arm around her neck. He pulled Toph close, dragging in Lin along with her.

"Don't even," Toph said. "You know you're the worst." She laughed. Letting her head fall against his, she hesitated for a moment before turning to press a light kiss to Sokka's lips.

This did not go unnoticed by Lin, who let out an over-exaggerated _oooooh_ and began making kissy noises with her own lips. Toph pulled away from Sokka and began dispensing sloppy kisses on the little girl's forehead instead. "Don't you start with me!" she said, grabbing a blanket and covering Lin's head with it, effectively muffling her daughter's giggles.

She took the brief moment where Lin's head was still shrouded to grab Sokka by the neck of his shirt, kissing harder. Then Lin was peeking out at them again, and Toph was holding all three of them in her arms as they all shut their eyes for a few more hours of sleep.


End file.
